Hello I'll be with you very shortly to see if England can scrape their way back into this series after New Zealand made 234 for nine in their 50 overs.

A thought for your penny: England would have taken a target of 235 at the start of the innings, but not when they reduced New Zealand to 95 for six in the 30th over. They might also wonder why Asad Rauf decided not to give Jacob Oram out leg-before to Ryan Sidebottom when he had five. It was stone-cold plumb, but Oram went on to make 88 and turn the innings round. Them's the breaks, and now we have a game on our hands. It just feels strange not having to describe the Kiwis chasing 135 to win...

So, go on then. Let's hear your Valentine's Day disasters...

What England need is for their middle order to fire. It would be nice, of course, if Alastair Cook and Phil Mustard can get them off to a decent start, but if the likes of Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah fail again, it will be series over. Here come the players.

1st over: England 1-0 (Cook 0, Mustard 0) Why I oughta! Mustard is almost run out without facing off the first ball of the England innings! Cook dabs Kyle Mills into the off-side, but by the time he's bellowed "no", Mustard is more than halfway down the pitch. Jamie How darts in to collect the ball and throw down the stumps at the non-striker's end, only for Mustard to get back with a split-second to spare. After the hat-trick of run-outs at Wellington and Hamilton, that would have been an absolute farce. After all that, it's a quiet over, with Mills conceding only an off-side wide.

2nd over: England 11-0 (Cook 1, Mustard 9) Chris Martin takes up the new-ball attack but his first ball, from round the wicket, is short and wide and Mustard leans back to crack him through extra-cover for four. He cuts the third ball for four more, then nudges a single to third man. That should help him forget his aberrational piece of running in the first over. Cook gets going by deflecting a single to fine-leg and that was a very good over for England - not a sentence I've written for a while. "I got kicked by Kevin Muscat in a pre-season friendly last night, only to follow it up by nutmegging him," says Ryan O'Hare. "If anybody's got a better Valentine's Day story than that, I'll eat my... er... keyboard."

WICKET! Mustard run out (Vettori) 15 (18-1) You couldn't make it up! Three overs into the innings and England have suffered their seventh run-out of the series. This time Mustard hits Mills straight to Daniel Vettori at mid-off and for reasons known only to himself sets off for a run. Vettori picks up cleanly, throws down the stumps - that's two direct hits in two attempts from New Zealand so far - and Mustard, who earlier in the over top-edged Mills over the keeper's head for six, is out by a yard. Utterly shambolic.

4th over: England 27-1 (Cook 6, Bell 5) I still can't fathom Mustard's decision to play tip-and-run after all that happened in the first two ODIs. Staggering. Just staggering. Still, live goes on and Ian Bell pulls his first ball, from Martin, for four: New Zealand obviously think he has a weakness against the short ball. A single into the covers follows, and then Cook works Martin off his hip for another boundary. It's not been a great start by Martin: 2-0-19-0.

4.1 overs: England 28-1 (Cook 6, Bell 6) Bell tucks Mills for a single and then the rain we were promised yesterday begins to fall. Off trundle the players, although Mike Atherton reckons the wind is strong enough in Auckland to blow the weather away. We shall see.

Angry email: "You're slapping the bowling around, there's no run-rate pressure, and the team has suffered a whole load of run-outs," weeps Ben. "Why in god's good name would you take a dicey single? Why?" Some questions just don't have an answer, Ben. The opening line of Mike Selvey's piece in today's Guardian is looking eerily prescient.

Another angry email: "What do you mean by 'if the likes of Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood and Shah fail in England's middle order'?" fumes Ian Forth. "Next you'll be talking about the "Luke Wrights and Dimitri Mascharenases of this world' and from there it's but a short hop, skip and a jump to "It's up to Laurence Booth to step up to the plate when Laurence Booth moderates the Guardian's over by over commentary, and no one else". A slippery slope." I would never write that, Ian. My name is spelt with a W.

It's stopped raining and the sun is out. They have to lose 15 minutes' play before men in anoraks start to examine sheets of paper with Duckworth and Lewis written on it, and we haven't quite had that yet. But will the shower have freshened up the Eden Park wicket? Yikes.

They've now been off for 15 minutes, so any delay from here on in will affect the target. The groundstaff are just applying the finishing touches, and there are still dark clouds lurking, but the sun is peeping through and the rain has disappeared. I'll bring you news of the revised target as soon as I know it. Quite obviously.

We will restart at 6.05am GMT and Sky reckon England will need 229 off 47 overs. So they've lost three overs and need six fewer runs. That favours New Zealand slightly, but it hardly makes any difference. And the equation would have been more favourable for England had Mustard not taken leave of his senses. No grumbles, then.

So, to sum up: England need a further 201 off 42.5 overs with nine wickets in hand. That is more than doable, but the run-out albatross hangs around the batsmen's necks and a couple of quick wickets now on a fresh pitch could scupper England completely. The next 10 overs could be make or break. Here come the players.

5th over: England 31-1 (Cook 9, Bell 6) Cook tucks Mills's first ball after the break through midwicket for two. That would have been four before the rain fell, but the outfield has slowed up. England will be delighted if Cook can drop anchor here: the required run-rate is under five and there is time for him to play a proper innings - there's a single towards extra-cover.

6th over: England 31-1 (Cook 9, Bell 6) Jacob Oram, fresh from a 91-ball 88 that - who knows? - might turn into the series-winning knock, replaces the strangely out-of-sorts Martin and goes round the wicket to Cook. Oram could be handy in these conditions, wobbling it on off-stump at around 80mph, and Cook can't get him away. A maiden. No need to panic yet, mind.

7th over: England 31-1 (Cook 9, Bell 6) The last time the players emerged after a rain break, in the second ODI at Hamilton, England fell to pieces. They've obviously resolved not to do the same here, but at the cost of some momentum. Oram's maiden is followed by a maiden from Mills to Bell. Hmm.

WICKET! Cook c Martin b Oram 9 (31-2) That, in a nutshell, is why England are struggling at the moment. Oram and Mills build up the pressure, so Cook tries to hit a good-length ball through the leg-side to relieve it. Instead, he picks out Martin at mid-on, and New Zealand are right back in this game.

8th over: England 34-2 (Bell 8, Pietersen 2) Kevin Pietersen works his first ball to backward square for a single to break a sequence of 15 dot balls, and that emboldens Bell to walk down the wicket and nudge a single off his hip. You can't help feeling that England are not far away from making another hash of things though.

9th over: England 38-2 (Bell 8, Pietersen 6) Mills beats Pietersen outside off and the plan, surely, will be to get him lbw once more. But when Mills pitches it up, Pietersen is waiting for him and drives straight down the ground for four: England's first boundary since the fourth over. They need another 191 in 38 overs. It could be touch and go.

10th over: England 43-2 (Bell 12, Pietersen 6) England can't allow Oram to bustle through 10 overs for 25, and Bell responds to my faraway wish by easing him through extra-cover for four: a lovely shot. This is a big innings for Bell. He hasn't scored anything in the internationals on this trip and gets beaten there by a slower ball as he advances on Oram. A single to backward point gives him the strike - although it's worth pointing out that the throw from the sub fielder, Jeetan Patel, was yet another Kiwi direct hit.

11th over: England 52-2 (Bell 21, Pietersen 6) Good stuff from Bell, who sashays down the track and hammers Mills over mid-on for four. That, as a puppet once said, is the way to do it. And so is that: a neat chip over wide mid-on for four more. There's England's fifty and the momentum is returning as Bell collects a single to square-leg keep the strike.

12th over: England 54-2 (Bell 22, Pietersen 7) Oram is varying his pace cleverly, but New Zealand are not happy about something. It turns out Vettori was getting his knickers in a twist with the umpires about the order in which he can take the two remaining powerplays given that one is now four overs and the other five. He has to take the five-over one first. Good grief: that was much ado about nowt. Two off a tight over.

13th over: England 55-2 (Bell 22, Pietersen 8) Martin returns after his early pasting, but he's on the money this time as Pietersen tries and fails to pierce the infield. The upshot is that Bell would have been run out by a mile - even after his dive - if Scott Styris had hit from midwicket. That really would have taken the biscuit.

14th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 64-2 (Bell 30, Pietersen 9) Pietersen uses his feet to try to disrupt Oram, but collects only a quick single to mid-off, before Bell picks up four slightly anxious runs. I think he was trying to work Oram over mid-on as he moved down the track, but ended up lofting it not far over the head of mid-off and away to the fence. Oram then drops short and wide and Bell cuts hard for four - that one got the treatment it deserved.

15th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 66-2 (Bell 31, Pietersen 10) Pietersen is being overshadowed by Bell, who pushes another quick single into the covers and is batting better than he has done since the start of the Twenty20 matches last week. Martin is varying his pace too - that's obviously a Kiwi tactic here, which means we'll probably see Styris before the innings is out. Two off the over.

16th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 70-2 (Bell 34, Pietersen 11) Paul Hitchcock enters the attack in place of Oram (5-1-18-1) and Brendon McCullum comes up to the stumps. New Zealand are in strangulation mode: pitch it up, set a ring saving one and invite the batsmen to take the initiative. It's not what you'd call aesthetic cricket but it helps explain why this side is ranked third in the world. But Bell does pick up two into the covers followed by a quick single to mid-off, and then Pietersen stands up tall to push one down the ground.

17th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 77-2 (Bell 39, Pietersen 13) There are a lot of quick singles going on here, which is a tribute to the miserliness of the New Zealand bowlers. Pietersen steals one off Martin to mid-on, but then Bell breaks the shackles with a quick-footed square-cut for four. Shot! For those who care about such things, that shot made Bell the 18th Englishman to pass 2,000 one-day runs. And, yes, that includes the man at the other end. Bell is playing very well here, and thank goodness for that. Seven off the over and England need to score at a shade over five for the remaining 30.

18th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 84-2 (Bell 45, Pietersen 14) Pietersen bottom-edges an attempted pull off Hitchock into his ribs and picks up a single as the ball ricochets to fine-leg. Then Bell shows him how to do it: four to fine-leg to bring up the fifty stand, followed by two to deep backward square. Dare I say that England are looking quite comfortable at the moment?

19th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 84-2 (Bell 45, Pietersen 14) That's the powerplays over and now Vettori brings himself on. Pietersen gets himself into a real tangle as he makes a late decision to try to cut him - and misses. A maiden.

20th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 91-2 (Bell 51, Pietersen 15) Bell reaches a very welcome half-century off 52 balls with a fantastic lofted cover-drive for four off Hitchock followed by a single. He has looked class tonight - as he so often does. And then he so often gets himself out. England need him to complete the job. "No Valentine disaster stories, as you asked for, tonight?" asks Jeremy Bunting in San Francisco. "My girlfriend and I just bumped into my soon ex-wife. Talk about a passion-killer! So I'm consoling myself with the fact that Bell is still at bat!"

21st over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 92-2 (Bell 52, Pietersen 15) England are milking Hitchcock and, er, failing to milk Vettori, who is bowling beautifully to his field. He concedes his first run off his 10th ball as Bell tucks him to square-leg for a single, but that's 2-1-1-0 now for the Kiwi captain.

22nd over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 96-2 (Bell 54, Pietersen 16) Bell would have been run out by a yard if Vettori had hit from mid-off and then Pietersen struggles to make his ground next ball after another quick single off Hitchcock, who then bowls a sickening off-side wide. England's running has hardly improved, despite all that has gone before. It really is a bit of a mystery.

23rd over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 98-2 (Bell 55, Pietersen 17) Vettori's tightness means the required run-rate is edging up to one a ball, but while these two are at the crease, England won't be worried. Bell gives himself room to steer an off-side single, then Pietersen takes a hesitant single to backward point. Two off the over - another impeccable one from Vettori.

24th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 101-2 (Bell 57, Pietersen 18) Over in Perth, Adam Gilchrist has scored a century against Sri Lanka in his final innings on his home ground. What a player! Back in Auckland, Bell drives Hitchcock towards extra-cover and is allowed to come back for a second by Vettori's misfield. Three off the over: England need 128 more off 23. They really ought to do this.

25th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 103-2 (Bell 58, Pietersen 19) This has been a strange knock from KP, who has played second fiddle to Bell and has hit only one boundary so far. He lunges forward at Vettori to take a single off the outside edge, but it's Bell who is working the ball around more skilfully at the moment. Vettori has now bowled four overs for five runs.

26th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 116-2 (Bell 59, Pietersen 31) Bell drives Hitchcock just in front of Styris at shortish extra-cover and breathes again as the rain returns. It's the cue for Pietersen to pull a rank long-hop for four and then pick out the extra-cover fence next ball before driving a third successive boundary down the ground. Great stuff! England needed that little flurry: they were in danger of getting bogged down.

27th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 117-2 (Bell 60, Pietersen 31) As things stand, England are ahead on Duckworth/Lewis, but the rain seems to have stopped as Bell works Vettori for a leg-side single. If New Zealand end up winning this, it will be because of the pressure applied here by Vettori. England are just trying to see him off and score at the other end. That's 5-1-6-0.

28th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 123-2 (Bell 65, Pietersen 32) Styris replaces Hitchock (6-0-38-0), and Mark Richardson is making the point in the commentary box that he should have been on earlier. I totally agree. Inevitably, then, Bell pulls Styris's first ball for four, then tucks him to fine-leg for a single. Perfect one-day batting. Pietersen then pulls slightly riskily for a single, causing McCullum to shout "catch", which makes a change from "run-out here fellas". But then who can blame him? Six off the over.

29th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 129-2 (Bell 69, Pietersen 34) First, an apology: if we've been a bit quiet in the last hour or so, it's been because of technical issues. But I think we're back now and you rejoin me as England take a rare two off the excellent Vettori courtesy of a Bell cover-drive. England need another 100 off 18 overs and will be kicking themselves all the way to Napier if they lose this.

30th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 138-2 (Bell 73, Pietersen 39) Oram replaces Styris and Bell picks up a single after another New Zealand direct hit ricochets off the stumps and away for an overthrow as Bell successfully regained his ground. Pietersen then brings up the 100 stand with a push down the ground for a single before Bell tickles two to fine-leg. And then Pietersen unleashes a front-foot pull through wide mid-on for four. That's more like the KP we know and love. Nine off the over is a real bonus for England.

WICKET! Bell lbw b Vettori 73 (138-3) This game isn't over! Bell is trapped on the crease by Vettori's arm-ball and not even Asad Rauf can mess that one up. Plumb.

32nd over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 146-3 (Pietersen 40, Collingwood 7) Some might say that was a typical Bell innings: play exquisitely for 70-odd, then fail to complete the job. But it turns out he was screwed by the umpire there, even though it looked at first sight as if Bell was absolutely plumb. So let's desist with the stereotypes, hmm? Meanwhile Collingwood picks up four lucky runs off the outside edge as he throws everything at Oram, who is then convinced Pietersen is caught behind. It came off his pad. This is by no means done and dusted, even if most sides around the world would walk it from here.

WICKET! Pietersen lbw b Vettori 41 (149-4) Game on! Pietersen gets a very big stride in but plays round his front pad and Vettori is straight up. Rauf upholds the shout - a fair decision - and KP glares at the umpire as he walks off: as much, you suspect, for the decision against Bell as that one. "I've read all the debates," says Jeremy Bunting, "but what is your definitive answer as to why England won Twenty20 and have suffered in ODI?" Complacency. And New Zealand played rather well.

34th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 158-4 (Collingwood 18, Shah 0) Collingwood is going to have to do a captain's job here and begins by cutting Oram for two, then launching him down the ground... for six! That was a slower ball, but was there a bit of anger in that stroke? "I staged a Valentine's Day protest with some friends," says Ranil Dissanayake. "We all watched Top Gun while getting thoroughly hammered and singing along to Kenny Loggins' frankly bizarre music. Then I got up at 4 am to watch this match before heading to the office. What do you mean 'no wonder I'm single'?"

35th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 160-4 (Collingwood 19, Shah 1) Collingwood looks busy and works the economical Vettori to the leg-side for a single before Owais Shah gets going with a slap to deep extra. Impressively, he fails to run his captain out. "With umpires around the world happy to give LBWs so frequently, it is even more important to have batting power at 7, 8, 9," points out Gary Naylor. "This team have that in Dimi, Wright and Broad which should bring vital runs once they're in, but also allow Colly and Shah some freedom to play shots now. Not so long ago, we were two balls away from Sidebottom at five down."

36th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 164-4 (Collingwood 20, Shah 4) Mills returns, which means New Zealand now have the world's No1- and No7-ranked bowlers operating in tandem. Mercifully for England, Vettori (9-1-20-2) is almost finished, but there is still a lot to do here as Shah works to leg for a single. They now need more or less a run a ball, which is still very gettable at this small and oddly shaped venue. But they haven't been good under pressure so far in this series, so uncount those chickens please. A Peter Fulton misfield allows Shah to come back for two as he goes on the pull and that's four off the over.

37th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 167-4 (Collingwood 22, Shah 5) Vettori begins his final over and his third ball is pushed down the ground for a single by Collingwood. He has bowled beautifully tonight. I hope Monty Panesar found a TV in India to watch: there's been so much to admire. He finishes with figures of 10-1-23-2 - and not a boundary among them. Outstanding. "I went for a beer last night with a couple of single mates in a 'non-Valentine' night of singledom solidarity," says Guy Hornsby. "Eight pints later, and no food, and I'm staggering in at midnight. It was not a pretty sight when the alarm clock went off at 6. Still, expecting the usual (England all out 126, New Zealand 100-0 off 11 overs) I was pleasantly surprised. Despite recent wickets, we should do this. Come on England! (where's the alka-seltzer?)"

38th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 173-4 (Collingwood 28, Shah 5) England begin the last 10 overs needing 62 to win with six wickets in hand. It's the kind of equation any decent one-day side will knock off in its sleep as Collingwood pulls Mills for two - that was another misfield from Fulton at deep midwicket, but they were going to get two anyway. Collingwood then makes it six off the over with a characteristic chip over midwicket for four off the last ball.

39th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 179-4 (Collingwood 30, Shah 9) Here comes Martin in place of Vettori and his first ball - short and wide - is cracked to deep extra for two by Shah. England just have to bat sensibly here. What's that? Oh. Anyway, Shah takes a single to deep cover, before Collingwood, who is batting really well, pushes another to long-on. Six off the over is all they really need.

40th over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 184-4 (Collingwood 32, Shah 12) Mills is no one's mug, so England just have to watch themselves. This situation could easily go belly-up with another quick wicket, but Shah is concentrating hard and jab-pulls a single. Collingwood doesn't quite get hold of an attempted slog-sweep, but the ball drops well short of Fulton and the batsmen jog an easy single. And then Shah completes the over with a slice for two to third man. A boundary would help. "Umm, isn't Shane Bond still the world No1 ODI bowler?" asks Craig Brown. "And if he doesn't count anymore doesn't that make Mills the world's 6th ranked?" No, Bond is now No2, even though it looks as if he isn't going to play again. So Mills really is No7. But I digress.

41st over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 194-4 (Collingwood 40, Shah 14) Collingwood is taking charge with an impressively set jaw and some quick feet as he cracks Martin to deep mid-off for a quick single. It's too early to start praising them for fighting back after Wellington and Hamilton, but at least they haven't caved in. Yet. The batsmen trade quiet singles and then Collingwood helps a high full-toss over backward square for six! Shot! England need 35 off six overs - that makes life much simpler.

42nd over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 208-4 (Collingwood 51, Shah 17) The middle order have responded superbly today to all the criticism they have received over the past week - and if Rauf had spotted Bell's inside edge, we might be talking about a rare one-day England hundred. Collingwood brings up the fifty stand with a cracking cover-drive off the back foot as Mills drops short and then mows a pull for four to move to his own half-century off just 42 balls. Fourteen off the over: Surely that settles matters - as if they were in much doubt. "Having stopped at the gym after my run in, to peer in the window at the cricket score, I was able to see Bell's wicket," says Anton Lawrence. "One good thing has come out of it - he's stopped doing that "Oh why me, Lord" look from 2005 tomore of a "Gaaaarrrrggghhhh" expression when he is given out. It's like watching a boy become a man, and nearly brought a tear to my eye."

43rd over: England (need 229 off 47 overs) 226-4 (Collingwood 68, Shah 17) Hitchcock returns to the attack and his first ball is an absolute shocker. An above-waist-height full-toss that is helped over fine-leg for six by Collingwood and called a no-ball: seven runs off, well, no balls! Collingwood then launches the first legitimate delivery back down the ground for two, before chipping the next for a one-bounce four. And then he reverse-sweeps a low full-toss for four more! England are doing this in real style now. New Zealand have fallen apart since Vettori finished his spell. While he was on, there was a chance they could squeeze a result. But Martin and Hitchcock have donated runs and it's very nearly game over.

England win by six wickets! It turned into a cakewalk thanks to a great unbeaten 70 off 50 balls from the captain Collingwood, who will surely be man of the match after taking three wickets earlier in the day. That was a very good all-round performance from England: they bowled very well, caught well and batted with genuine authority. And they did it all with three overs to spare.

What a difference an etc makes. Clearly the rollicking handed out by Peter Moores after Hamilton had its desired effect. This was almost clinical and the series is still alive. The next game is on Wednesday night at Napier, where - if you believe in omens - England made it 2-2 six years ago. We shall see. Thanks for all the emails and apologies for the brief technical hitch.